Traction-plow.



'J. WOLF.

TRACTION PLDW.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 14, 1914.

Patented Oct. 31,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 J. WOLF.

TRACTION PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED on. M. 1914.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

3 5HEETSSHEET 2.

JiY/MSW J. WOLF.

TRACTION PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 14. $914.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

m: mums PzYsRs co. FNom-Lnuo, umsmm: ION. n cy JOHN WOLF, OF LAPOR'I'E,INDIANA, .AStSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ADVANCE-RUMBLE COMPANY, OFLAPORTE, INDIANA, A. CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

TRACTION-PLOW.

neoaeat.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN VOLF, a citizen of the United States, residingat Laporte, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have inventeda certain new and useful Improvement in Traction-Flows, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to traction plows, and has for its object amongother things to provide means for automatically raising and lowering theplows, for preventing the plows from falling so as to bend or injuretheir points and also to provide means for causing the plows to retain auniform depth of furrow.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in the presentform of application.

Figure l is a plan view with parts removed; Fig. 2 a similar sideelevation; Fig. 3 an enlarged detail side elevation of the forward partof the tract or frame. Fig. l a detail plan view of the forward part ofthe frame. Fig. 5 a detail elevation in part section of the rear part ofthe frame, and Fig. 6 a cross section on the. line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Like parts are indicated by the same letter in all the figures.

A is the driving wheel, and A a supporting wheel, and A the severalparts of the frame, which is preferably shaped substantially as shown.The engine for driving the traction wheel and any other supporting orguiding wheels which may be required or desired are not here shown.

A is the operators seat.

B is a continuously rotating shaft driven in any desired manner mountedon the bearing B and provided with a sliding spool B on its projectingend. It also has a pin B between which and the bearing the spool is freeto move longitudinally along the shaft. On the outer end of the spoolare a series of teeth 13*, whereby when the spool is moved outwardly byengagement with the pin B the spool may be locked to the shaft so as torotate therewith. Under other conditions the spool acts as an idler onthe shaft.

D is a bell crank lever pivoted on the frame at D and held in the fullline position of Fig. 4, by the spiral spring D It has a rear upwardprojection D and its forward end D lies between the two flanges of thespool 13 so that when the bell crank lever is rocked on its pivot ittends to move the spool back and forth upon its shaft.

E is a rope secured to one arm E of a lever, the other arm of which, Eis adjacent F mounted on the frame and forwardly under the second pulleyF in like manner mounted on the frame, and is provided with a stop-blockF which normally lies against the frame of the pulley F The rope passesthrough an aperture in the projection D and thence is carried over andaround the spool, thence this rope passes forward around the pulley inthe pivot block- F whence it returns and passes on to the spool frombelow and is made fast thereto. It carries the stop-blocks F, F.Obviously when the spool is rotated in the direction indicated by thearrow in Fig. 3, the rope F will travel in such direction as to move thestop-blocks F, and F toward the left as illustrated in Figs. 3 and at.This action will continue until the stop-block F engages the projectionD on the lever D, whereupon the latter will be swung into the positionin full lines on Fig. at, and the spool will be out of operativeengagement with the shaft B, and will cease to rotate.

G is a lever pivoted at G on the frame.

G is a spiral spring attached at one end to the frame, and at the otherto one arm of the lever.

G is a portion of the other arm of the lever which is'perforated topermit the passage of the rope F. The blocks F and F lie on oppositesides of this arm of the lever. With this arrangement, the lever will becarried into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The arm F isattached to the rock shaft H, at the other end of which is the arm Hwith a chain H leading to the cross bar H to which the plow beams 11*carrying the plows H are attached. Obviously, therefore, when the spoolis in opera tion to wind up the rope, the plows are lifted first againstthe action of the spring G and the moment it has passed the pivplows intheir elevated position. I there-Q Such a fore provide a lock levertherefor. lever diagrammatically shown in Fig. 6 may consist of thefollowing parts :A body J pivoted at J with the upwardly projecting endJ having the beveled hook J 3 and the upwardly projecting end J 4associated with the spring J which tends to keep that end of the leverin its upright position or in the normal position shown in Fig. 6. Thehook end J 3 is in the path of the arm F and serves to clamp the same tokeep the shaft H from rotating and allowing the plows to drop back intothe earth. By pressing downward on the end J t of the lever J, it may berocked on its pivot to disengage the hook from the arm F whereupon theplows will drop diagonally into the earth but against the action of thespring G so that they will drop down gently until the spring G haspassed the pivot G or into the position illustrated in full lines inFig. l, at which time there will be no further hindrance to the droppingof the plows, and they will pass into the ground in the proper position.Any other device for supporting the plows in their elevated positioncould be employed.

The plow beams H are secured at their forward ends to the floating crossbeam K, the two ends of which are loosely supported by the chains K Kwhich pass upwardly to the frame. To the middle of the cross beam issecured a diagonal brace K its other end being attached to the framenear the supporting wheel A The cross beam to which the plow beams areattached is secured at its two ends to links K K which are in turnpivotally connected to the drawbars K K which are pivoted to the downwardly depending plates K on the frame. The rear end of the draw-bars Kare held in adjustable position by means of the downwardly dependingbolts K, and the lock nuts K on the bolt on opposite sides of eachdraw-bar. This gives an adjustable but rigid support to the p'low beamsand their forwardly extending links at a point approximately below theaxle of the drive wheel.

I have described these several parts and illustrated them somewhat indetail, because they are taken from a working drawing, but I do not wishto be understood as limiting myself to the particular size, shape, formand arrangement of these several parts, or even to the use of all ofthem in any given structure, and in this sense I expect my drawings tobe taken as diagrammatic and illustrative of the general principles ofmy invention.

described are as follows:-Assurning that J the frame is properly mountedon suitable Wheels and provided with proper driving power, the tractorunder the guidance of the operator will move forward in the usualmanner. If now the plows are to be dropped into the ground, the operatorwill free the hook J from the arm F whereupon the plows, by reason oftheir weight, will begin to descend, expanding as they descend thespring G so as to reduce the speed of de scent and cushion the plowsagainst sudden striking of their points against the earth. The spring Ghowever, ceases to act the moment it passes G and the plows arethereafter gently dropped into the earth in proper position. Thestop-block F 4 will be against the pulley frame F The depth of thefurrow is determined by setting the nuts K on the bolt K When the plowsare to be raised, the operator depresses the lever F thus drawing uponthe rope E, and throwing the lever D into the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 4. This operatively engages the spool with the shaft andcauses the rope F to be wound up and the plows to be lifted out of theearth. Assuming now that the plows are in operation, since the effectivepoint of their attachment by the beams to the frame is directly belowthe axis of the tractor wheel, no motion up and down of the forward endof the frame due to irregularities in the surface of the earth, canalter the position of the plows, so as to Vary the depth of the furrow,for the frame,

however much it may be moved up or down at the forward end, rotatesabout the axis of the drive wheel, and this is in effect rotation aboutthe forward ends of the plow beams so there is no tendency to raise orlower the beams at that point. The chains 5 K K are sufliciently slackto permit a movement of the rear end of the frame up or down withoutdisplacing the plow beams. Should the tractor wheel encounter surfaceirregularities, the forward end of the beam being substantially underthe axis of rotation of the traction wheel, will respond to suchirregularities of the ground rising or falling therewith and thuschanging the position of the plow sufliciently to enable it to maintaina uniform furrow for the plow point when it reaches the spot at whichthe irregularity was encountered by the wheel, will be found to haveraised or lowered sufliciently to keep a practical uniform furrow,-

both ends to permit this,

and here again slackening the chain K is sufiicient to permit suchaction. The brace If prevents the lateral vibration of the cross beam towhich the plow beams are secured, and it has suflicient freedom ofmovement at notwithstanding the relative upward and downward motion ofsuch cross beams. The draw-bar in this case consists of the beam of theplow and the link which passes forwardly therefrom, and the extension ofthe draw-bar is that part which proceeds from the forward part of theframe to the forward end of the drawbar at or near the point where thelatter is vertically adjustable.

I claim:

1. In a traction plow the combination f a frame, wheels on which it issupported, plows pivotally attached thereto, a shaft continuouslyrotated, a spool loose on the shaft, means to attach the spool to theshaft, a pulley on the frame, a rope attached to the plow back of itspivot and passed about the spool and the pulley and attached to thespool, a lever pivoted on the frame and attached at one end to the rope,a spring at tached to the other end of the lever and adapted tosuccessively lie on opposite sides of the pivotal point as the levershifts its position.

2. In a traction plow the combination of a frame, wheels on which it issupported, plows pivotally attached thereto, a shaft continuouslyrotated, a spool loose on the shaft, means to attach the spool to theshaft under the control of the operator, a pulley on the frame, a ropeattached to the plow back of its pivot and passed about the spool andthe pulley and attached to the spool, a lever pivoted on the frame andattached at one end to the rope, a spring attached to the other end ofthe lever and adapted to successively lie on opposite sides of thepivotal point as the lever shifts its position.

3. In a traction plow the combination of a frame, wheels on which it issupported, plows pivotally attached thereto, a shaft continuouslyrotated, a spool loose on the shaft, means to attach the spool to theshaft under the control of the operator, means to disengage the spoolfrom the shaft responsive to the upward movement of the plows, a pulleyon the frame, a rope attached to the plow back of its pivot and passedabout the Copies of this patent may be obtained for spool and the pulleyand attached to the spool, a lever pivoted on the frame and attached atone end to the rope, a spring attached to the other end of the lever andadapted to successively of the pivotal point as the lever shifts itsposition.

a. In a traction plow the combination of a frame, wheels on which it issupported, plows pivotally attached thereto, a shaft continuouslyrotated, a spool loose on the shaft, means to attach the spool to theshaft, a rope attached to the plow back of its pivot and passed aboutthe spool, a lever pivoted on the frame and attached at one end to therope, a spring attached to the other end of the lever and adapted tosuccessively lie on opposite sides of the pivotal point as the levershifts its position.

5. In a traction plow the combination of a frame, wheels on which it issupported, plows pivotally attached thereto, a shaft continuouslyrotated, a spool loose on the shaft, means to attach the spool to theshaft under the control of the operator, a rope attached to the plowback of its pivot and passed about the spool, a lever pivoted on theframe and rope, a spring attached to the other end of the lever andadapted to successively lie on opposite sides of the pivotal point asthe lever shifts its position.

6. In a traction plow a frame, wheels on which it is supported, plowspivotally attached thereto, a shaft continuously rotated, a spool looseon the shaft, means to attach the spool to the shaft under the controlof the operator, means to disengage the spool from the shaft responsiveto the upward movement of the plows, a rope attached to the plow back ofits pivot and passed about the spool, a lever pivoted on the frame andattached at one end to the rope, a spring attached to the other end ofthe lever and adapted to successively lie on opposite sides of thepivotal point as the lever shifts its position.

In testimony whereof, I afiiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses this 12th day of October, 1914:.

JOHN WOLF.

the combination of Witnesses:

BESSIE S. Bron, MINNIE M. LINDENAU.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 6.

lie on opposite sides attached at one end to the

